- 250,000 fewer low-income FAFSA renewals
- New reporting requirements for CARES Act funds
- Illinois college launches contact tracer training program
- Rolling out plans for the fall
250,000 fewer low-income FAFSA renewals
A significant drop in federal student aid applications to date compared to last year could be a concern for colleges who see the figures as an indicator for enrollment.
Nearly 250,000 fewer returning students from the lowest-income backgrounds have renewed their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for 2020-21, according to an analysis by the National College Attainment Network (NCAN). FAFSA renewals overall are down nearly 5 percent (more than 350,000 students) compared to last year.
“FAFSA completion is a strong indicator of postsecondary enrollment, so we should carefully monitor FAFSA renewal as a predictor of emerging fall enrollment trends,” said NCAN Executive Director Kim Cook.
Between March 15 and April 15, there were nearly one-quarter (24.3 percent) fewer Pell Grant-eligible returning applicants from the lowest income group than in the same period last year, according to NCAN’s analysis Among FAFSA applicants earning between $25,000 and $50,000, the drop was one-fifth, or 20.3 percent.
There is also a drop among high school seniors completing the FAFSA. From March 13 to April 17, the percent change in year-over-year completions decreased by 2.8 percentage points, from 0.2 percent to -2.6 percent, representing a decline of more than 50,000 FAFSA completions.
To date, Tennessee has seen the highest number (75 percent) of high school seniors completing the federal form, followed by Louisiana (67 percent), Washington, D.C. (64.3 percent), Massachusetts (61.5 percent) and Connecticut (61.2 percent), according to NCAN. Alaska, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming and New Mexico rank at the bottom, respectively, ranging from 28 percent to 41 percent.
Many organizations that offer student aid — from community groups and colleges, to so-called Promise programs that often supplement other student aid — require students to complete a FAFSA.
New reporting requirements for CARES Act funds
Colleges and universities distributing their CARES Act allocations as emergency grants to students must publicly post certain information within 30 days of institutions receiving the funds, according to new reporting requirements from the U.S. Education Department (ED).
The May 6 guidance says the post must include a college’s:
- certification and agreement with ED for the funds
- the total amount of CARES Act funds that the institution will or has received
- the amount it has distributed to students, as well as the estimated total of students eligible to receive assistance and the number who have received aid
- the method the institution used to distribute grants to students
- any instructions, directions or guidance about the grants that it provides to students
The information must be updated every 45 days.
The department said it soon will provide instructions on how participating institutions will provide an initial report to ED regarding the grants.
Illinois college launches contact tracer training program
Oakton Community College (OCC) is starting a program to quickly train workers to monitor contacts of infected people and to notify them of their exposure.
The Des Plaines, Illinois, college will start the online, self-paced Public Health Contact Tracer Paraprofessional training program on May 26. It was was developed in cooperation with local health departments and can be completed in about three weeks.
Contact tracing is key to slowing or stopping the spread of COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which credits the practice in curbing previous pandemics, including the SARS and Ebola outbreaks.
The training also presents participants with job opportunities. Preliminary information indicates that more than 100,000 contact tracers are needed immediately, OCC said. Contact tracers — who can do the job remotely — can earn up to $28 per hour. Ideal contact tracer candidates include retired healthcare workers, current healthcare students and hospitality industry workers whose jobs has been affected by the pandemic.
Rolling out plans for the fall
More community colleges this week have announced that they plan to open their campuses this fall, though they will also continue to run remote programs, just in case.
The 16 colleges that are part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System will offer classes in a variety of formats — including in-person classes — when the fall term starts on August 17. All the programs will have a strong online or remote instruction component, which should make for an easier transition to go fully remote again if the pandemic again prompts campus closures, the system said.
Along the same thinking of making an easier transition back to remote instruction, the colleges also will offer a variety of scheduling options, including 16-week, 12-week and eight-week sessions. In addition, colleges are developing plans to meet social distancing and health requirements and strengthening virtual student support for online and remote classes.
Summer classes will begin soon but will be offered only online, though a few hands-on classes are tentatively scheduled for July at some colleges.
In Springfield, Missouri, Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC) plans to reopen this fall under normal operations, including all in-person lectures and labs, though things may change as the coronavirus situation evolves.
“Unlike many colleges and universities, OTC is in a solid position to re-open as we do not have the additional worry of on-campus housing, athletic teams or large-scale dining services,” Chancellor Hal Higdon said in a May 6 letter to students announcing the college’s plans.
Oklahoma’s Tulsa Community College (TCC) also aims to resume in-person classes in the fall across all its campuses, but it will provide students with choices. The plan allows for a combination of delivery methods from which students can choose, including online, synchronously, blended and in-person, the college said.
The fall course schedule required TCC to alter 80 percent of its class sections to provide the options.
TCC will prioritize courses with a lab component or programs that require specific equipment for teaching and learning, such as allied health, aviation, nursing, performing arts, and science for face-to-face scheduling. Students also will have limited access to learning spaces on campus for study, technology use and testing.
Despite the efforts of some colleges to try to open campuses later this year, other colleges are opting to continue with remote learning for most of their classes through the fall, including the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California.
“With an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the College’s service area, combined with the lack of a vaccine and the possibility of a second wave of infections, we felt this was the most prudent path,” said Superintendent/President Joel Kinnamon.
